Te Ihu o Mataoho

Te Ihu o Mataohowas a St PAUL St Gallery installation created in consultation with the Te Wai-ō-Hua, Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL) and in collaboration with other creative practitioners. The works advocate for the appreciation and protection of Ihumātao by raising the profiles of volcanic features in the area. Specifically Maungataketake, Ōtuataua, Waitomokia and the wāhi tapu (sacred) Te Puketaapapatanga a Hape, 2016.

SOUL is a community-driven campaign group that is inclusive of diverse tauiwi (non-Māori), Ihumātao residents and is lead by mana whenua Te Wai-ō-Hua whānau members (Māori with traditional custodial authority for Ihumātao). The SOUL whānau is attempting to stop the development of a fast-tracked Special Housing Area (SHA62) on the whenua of Ihumātao, because we are certain that the housing development will destroy highly significant features in the area, including urupā (cemetery), puna (springs) and tūpuna maunga (ancestral mountain).